DR THERESE COFFEY, has been the Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal since 2010 She was last re-elected at the General Election held on 12th December 2019, with a majority of 20,533 (56.5% of the vote). She succeeded John Selwyn Gummer (now Lord Deben), who had been the MP between 1979 and 2010. She served on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee until she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Fallon, Minister for Business and Energy and was then promoted to become an Assistant Whip.
In 2015, the then Prime Minister David Cameron promoted her to the role of Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and upon Theresa May becoming Prime Minister in July 2016, Therese was appointed to a ministerial position in the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs. In September 2019 she was promoted to Secretary of State at the Department of Work & Pensions by the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Thérèse has campaigned on stopping the A14 toll, improving NHS experience for patients and better broadband. Ongoing priorities include fairer share of funding, Sizewell C, Felixstowe Port, preventing coastal and estuary erosion, off gas grid consumers, rail improvements, agriculture, STEM takeup, women in business and educational attainment.
Thérèse grew up in the North West and after graduating from UCL with a PhD in Chemistry, joined the international company Mars. Qualified as a chartered management accountant, she became Finance Director for a UK subsidiary and has also worked at the BBC. She contested Wrexham at the 2005 General Election and European elections in 2004 and 2009.
Outside politics, she enjoys watching football, gardening, is a CAMRA member and enjoys music, especially Muse.